Motor vehicle front-end panel assemblies are provided so as to react sufficiently to different types of impact sustained by the motor vehicle, such as “pedestrian” impacts at approximately 40 km/h, “parking” impacts at approximately 4 km/h (ECE42) and “reparability” impacts at approximately 15 km/h (Danner impacts) whilst reducing production costs.
In order to provide energy absorption, a large number of components are provided in order to react as effectively as possible depending on the type of impact sustained by the vehicle. For example, a shock absorber in the form of a resiliently deformable component is provided for pedestrian impacts and constructed so as to be crushed upon collision with a pedestrian. At least a metal transverse beam is provided for parking impacts, and metal, deformable energy absorption components or “crash boxes” are provided for reparability impacts. This large number of components complicates production of the front-end panel assembly and also adds considerable weight to the motor vehicle, in particular owing to the metal components provided.
One object of the invention is to provide a front-end panel assembly which enables satisfactory shock absorption whilst reducing the number of components, and which can be produced at low cost and reduced weight.